| The third excerpt represents the element of Water. It speaks of pure spiritual influences and feelings of love, and is drawn from The Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane: The noise, too, was approaching. The woods
filtered men and the fields became dotted.
As he rounded a hillock, he perceived that the
roadway was now a crying mass of wagons,
teams, and men. From the heaving tangle issued
exhortations, commands, imprecations. Fear was
sweeping it all along. The cracking whips bit
and horses plunged and tugged. The white-
topped wagons strained and stumbled in their
exertions like fat sheep.
The youth felt comforted in a measure by this
The Red Badge of Courage |
The fourth excerpt represents the element of Earth. It speaks of physical influences and the impact of the unseen on the visible world, and is drawn from Child of Storm by H. Rider Haggard: Instantly in one tremendous roar volleyed forth the royal salute of
"Bayete", a signal of the acceptance of the King's word--the word that
meant civil war and the death of many thousands.
Then Panda turned and, so feebly that I thought he would fall, walked
through the gateway behind him, followed by the rival queens. Each of
these ladies struggled to be first after him in the gate, thinking that
it would be an omen of success for her son. Finally, however, to the
disappointment of the multitude, they only succeeded in passing it side
by side.
When they had gone the great audience began to break up, the men of each
party marching away together as though by common consent, without
Child of Storm |
